So far, we have had some pleasant weather, which we have not been used to in recent years. The Scottish Parliament is in recess which, contrary to what some observers say, is not one two-month holiday!

A most depressing aspect of current politics is the low level to which so-called debate can descend on the Independence Referendum to be held in September 2014, especially on the “No” side. There is nothing “better” about some of the scare tactics employed by the Better Together campaign. I do hope that arguments about the future will improve in quality, especially regarding each side’s views of a positive future for Scotland. They do themselves no credit by focusing on negative images of Scotland’s future as allegedly planned by their opponents. Read more of this post

The Independence Referendum next year is about the future of Scotland and her people, not a vote for or against the current SNP Government or any political party.

As former LibDem councillor Gerry McMullan pointed out in the letters page of last week’s Dunfermline Press, the Referendum is about whether Scots should make decisions about their future through an independent Scottish Parliament or remain dominated by Westminster. Read more of this post

West Fife poet Robert Sclater, a retired architectural designer, has written a topical new poem to commemorate the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence.

Mr Sclater’s extensive career has included working for Dunfermline architects Shearer and Annand and redesigning the visitor maps in Pittencrieff Park. He is a former pupil of Blacklaw, Woodmill and Queen Anne schools. Read more of this post

The First Minister has announced that the Independence Referendum will be on Thursday 18th September 2014. Predictably, some Labour MSPs tried to make an issue of not receiving special knowledge of the date ahead of Parliament. This would have been improper and against Parliamentary procedures.

We can now expect an 18-month increasing onslaught against Independence. Though I hope this might include some rational debate, I anticipate plenty of nonsense. For example, immediately after the date announcement, a Labour MSP objected saying some of her constituents might need candles to get to polling stations!

Opponents are in the strange position of demanding to know why the Referendum can’t be held sooner, but asking in the same breath how Scots can decide on major constitutional change without knowing, in microscopic detail, exactly what the future will look like in an independent Scotland. Read more of this post

MSP Bill Walker has refuted comments by Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who proposed that any decision on more powers for the Scottish Parliament should be for the entire UK electorate in 2015, rather than for the people of Scotland to decide in the 2014 referendum. Read more of this post

Bill Walker, SNP MSP for Dunfermline, has joined senior voices in the business community in rebuffing claims that Scotland is attracting less investment in the run-up to the Independence Referendum. Read more of this post